Criss' Angel
by TheNamelessOne96
Summary: 32 year old Terra is having some troubles with her stalker ex and just happens to be staying in the Luxor hotel where Criss Angel is. But who will save who is this situation? I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING BUT THE STORY PLOT AND FICTIONAL CHARACTERS
1. Whiskey Girl and Magic Man

It was two in the morning when my cell phone rang. I groaned and managed to shove several papers from the bedside table, including my BieLIEve card I had gotten from Criss Angel's show, before finding my phone. My mind was still foggy from sleep and the screen blurred in a mash of white and black as it continued ringing loudly through the room. Through the frustration of not being able to press the talk button I angrily flipped it open. "WHAT." I snapped.

"Terra?" a drunken male's voice slurred.

"No, it's mother f*cking Britney Spears." I grumbled still not realizing whose drunken voice it _actually _was.

"Hey! Don't be gettin' no attitude with me you stuck up-"

"Barry? What the hell do you want?" I sat up in bed as my stomach knotted into an unimaginable tangle of anxiety. There was a long pause before dull, maniacal laughter scratched through.

"Just calling to let you know I'm in town babe…" there was a short sipping sound. "Hope to see you around." The line went dead as warm tears bubbled up, but I didn't let them spill. Instead I rolled my eyes and threw my phone against the floor with a mighty force.

I attempted to fall back into sleep, but every time I closed my eyes Barry's cocky grin flashed through the darkness. At one point I rolled over to stare out the window, nothing good came out of that either; a strike of lightning caused Barry's silhouette to haunt the window/door's frame. I jumped up in shock and quickly scrambled to turn the lights on. That's when I realized that I was on the twenty-ninth floor and there was no way Barry would be on my balcony. Maybe the balcony of my mind…

"Brandy?" as I spoke into the hotel room's phone I fumbled with my silk robe.

"Hey kiddo, what are you doing awake?"

"Is the bar still open?"

"Um…yeah, yeah it is get down here, now." She could tell immediately that something was wrong. There always was when I wanted to drink.

With nothing on but my p.j's and my red and black silk robe I ran out into the hall and to the closest elevator. Even in a dire situation I refused to take elevators, yet when you have to go down twenty-nine flights of stairs, elevators came in handy. Stairs though, did come in a close fifth in my top ten on my List o' Fears.

I curled up in the corner of the elevator and prayed that no one was using it this late and that it wouldn't stop on any floor but the bottom. Luckily it didn't and as soon as it opened I dashed out into the dead lobby where my cousin was waiting in her shiny Luxor hotel employee vest. She whipped around at the sound of the elevator dinging my arrival and I ran into her arms and she hugged me tightly.

"I need a drink…" I whispered trying with all of my might not to cry.

"Straight whiskey coming up." With that we headed over to the bar where she sat beside me. "Alex," the bartender turned. "Whiskey on the rocks please,"

"Straight? You sure?" he asked while pulling out the glass and bottle.

"Definitely," I answered grabbing the cold glass and taking a swig. It was silent between the three of us for a few minutes until Alex set his rag down and looked at me dead in the eyes over my glass.

"What's going on, Terra?" he asked.

"None of your business. What are you my psychiatrist? Get back to scrubbing." I rolled my eyes as he pursed his lips and began wiping the counter again. "Brandy babe," I turned to my cousin. "Get back to work. I'm ok…thank you for being here for me, really." I smiled at her softly as she put a hand on my shoulder.

"You sure?"

"Yes, thanks again."

"Well alright Bubble Butt…" she laughed when she said my nickname she made up. "We'll talk later, ok?"

"Yeah, ok. Night Brandy," Brandy got up and walked back into her work station and I laid my head on the bar, mulling over all of the things I had been trying to escape from when I moved here and how some of them were just trying to find me again. "Maybe I was meant to be followed by misery…" I muttered quietly.

"Oh come now," a somehow familiar voice rang through my ears. "No one is meant to be followed by misery, not if something good doesn't follow behind it."

For the second time that night I jumped about eight feet off the bar stool. "Oh! Oh, hello," I laughed lightly as the dark haired man beside me smiled widely.

"I'm sorry," he stated. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"That's ok, sorry you caught me talking to myself." We laughed and shook hands.

"Criss A-"

"Angel, yeah I know." I giggled and shrugged. "I love you! Your show was incredible by the way, magic has always fascinated me."

Criss' brows lifted and he shifted his body towards me. "How so?"

I shrugged. "You know…just like it mystifies everybody else. But you see…" I smiled slowly. "I know all the tricks."

That earned me a hardy laugh from him and he stared me in the eyes. "Oh really? Well ok then," he reached behind the bar for a bottle of water. "Alex my friend, please hand me two paper towels." Without question Alex emerged from the kitchen with two towels. "Ok now, hold the bottle in one hand with the towel under and place the other towel over it with your other hand." I did as was instructed and he said a few things while waving the towel covered bottle around. "Ok if I can make this bottle disappear I'll give you twenty bucks, got it?"

"Yup," I chuckled. Criss then pulled the towel back to my hand, but before he could crush it to show there was no bottle anymore, I reached behind my back with incredible reflexes and snatched the bottle before it fell into Alex's open hand. Criss stared at me in amazement, his eyes wide with question and shock.

"Thanks, I was thirsty." I cracked open the lid to the bottle before tilting his way and taking a long drink. "Now," I wiped my mouth with the spare towel. "Give Alex his wallet and twenty back so he doesn't have a meltdown."

Criss' face broke into a smile as amusement danced in his eyes. "I am thoroughly impressed Whiskey Girl!"

"Me too!" I laughed. "My sarcasm and badass-ness came out better than I expected!"

After a few more minutes of laughing and talking I decided that, it being three-thirty am, it was time for bed again. "Well Criss, it was nice to meet you, but I think we both better be getting to bed."

"Already?" he mocked. "I haven't even had the pleasure of taking you out first. You never came across to me as that kind of girl." He winked as I blushed and waved him off.

"Shut up you big ball of lies."

"Only if you believe," I smiled and we both stood to sadly go our separate ways.

He smiled that charming smile and watched me as I got into the elevator. I smiled sadly at him as the doors slowly closed and I clicked the twenty ninth button. "It would be horrible of me to say that I met this absolutely lovely girl in the lobby and I don't even know her name." I nearly screamed as Criss suddenly appeared closer to me and my face than ever. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Ok so maybe not every single trick you do, Magic Man." I laughed. "My name is Terra, Terra Willis."

"It was very nice to meet you, Terra." The elevator dinged sharply and the doors slid open again.

"You too Criss!" I exited the small room and waved once again. "See you next show, Magic Man." I said as I turned towards my room.

"Next show, Whiskey Girl." He answered as the doors closed shut behind me.


	2. The Stalker

I learned the hard way that whiskey and sleeping in late doesn't mix well at all. I had woken up around one, which gave me a good four hours to get ready before the next BeLIEve show started. But by the time I was done losing my anxiety issues and flushing them down the commode, I only had a little less than three hours to make myself presentable.

I stood over my sink and watched as the cold water drained in a swirl down the pipe. It was soothing in a weird sort of way…only because I wanted to be that water. With no troubles at all, able to slip away from anything. That would be the life…although I hadn't heard from Barry again since last night. That was a good thing and I knew for a fact that Brandy would be all over me about what happened, she wasn't stupid enough to think it wasn't a problem with Barry either.

"Hey," I turned at Brandy's voice. "Sorry to just barge in but I wanted to catch you before you left for the show."

"Oh it's ok…so you're wondering about last night?" I proceeded to explain what happened and dealt with Brandy's anger at Barry. But then she began to gush over me and go on about how I needed to be protected so I decided it was time to go.

"Brandy babe," I laughed and through a spare bra at her. "I have to go!"

"What? Ah! Where did this come from?" she peeled the bra from her head and tossed it aside. "I do not like your used underwear on my head thank you!"

We both left my room and went our own ways to sleep (because she works at night) and me to the show.

The theatre was everything I had imagined and more. (A/N I'm just going off of imagination here people so if this isn't what the actual theatre looks like I apologize.) It had massive velvet, purple drapes hanging from the walls that drooped down and almost touched the floors. The ceiling's held gorgeous wooden chandeliers carved with beautiful designs that were obviously Greek, and I couldn't help but notice each had the Angel symbol set in the middle of them.

Even with hundreds of people sitting in the plushy black seats, it was pin drop quiet. The lights were just dimming and as I sat down in my own seat, I caught a glimpse of Criss poking his head out from the side of the stage. Our eyes met and we both grinned and waved, then the show began.

"That was grand!" an old woman shouted in excitement. I couldn't help but giggle at her happiness, it was good to see women her age enjoying modern day excitements and not criticizing or scrutinizing them.

Criss was over signing autographs by the front door when I finally escaped the crowd of enthusiastic fans. He spotted me and waved me over, but before I could get there my phone rang, I fished it out of my pocket. My heart sank at the caller ID. "Hello?" I answered slowly.

"You look nice…how was the show?" an eerily familiar voice made my insides churn.

"It was fantastic! Criss really knows his stuff, I wish I was as talented as him." I spoke like there was nothing out of the ordinary with this conversation. Criss even glanced over and smiled at my comments about him…little did he know I was really avoiding the smoldering gaze of the dangerous man who could be anywhere. I turned my back to Criss and leaned against the wall.

"Oh so now it's Criss? Don't think I didn't see you there last night getting all hot and heavy with him at the bar." Barry hissed menacingly.

I held the receiver close to my face so I could speak softly. "Where are you, Barry?"

"You still liking whiskey? I have a great bottle right here in my hand we could share…then maybe we could get a little rough later. You know you miss that, this time you can even let me take it all the way. Since I never got to before." My cheeks reddened at the mention of our past relationship. But Barry always underestimated how my mind worked, saying he was holding a bottle of whiskey was the only hint I needed.

I hung up the phone and let my eyes scan over the crowded streets in the darkening light. Soon I found him, he was wearing a dark jacket, sunglasses, a baseball cap, and wasn't only holding a paper bag, but his hunting knife poked out slightly from underneath his jacket. I sucked in a sharp breath and slowly looked away, there had to be some way to get away from him.

"Terra," Criss laid his hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright?"

I gave him the most innocent smile I could muster up and nodded. "Yup! Of course, your show was unbelievable by the way." I smiled brightly, suddenly extremely comfortable and no longer nervous. "Dare I say better than yesterday's? I'm glad I came to this one too."

"Good, good that's great! You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you and others say that." He laughed and waved to a couple of actors that were leaving. "Oh, I have to go my brothers need me. Will I see you later?"

"You're the Mindfreak…you tell me." I nudged him in the ribs with my elbow and chuckled. He smirked at me then went to the small group of men waiting for him. When I looked back at the street, Barry was gone and I knew that he could either see me or would be at the hotel when I got there. I ducked into the nearest alley, and began running.

Criss' POV

What worried me wasn't the look on her pale face, but the way she slipped into the alley, as if trying to escape. Was I really that intimidating? I never thought so…but other people had always told me I was.

"Who was that?" JD's voice interrupted my thoughts as I tore my eyes away from the alley.

"Just a girl I met at the bar late last night…" we all piled into the Hummer and began heading to dinner. That's when it hit me that I should have invited her along…something told me I shouldn't have let her leave.

"Really? You don't you usually hit it off with fans like that…there something special about her or something?" JD laughed and flicked the blinker on.

My mind reeled for an answer. "Yes actually. She's very…" as I searched for the correct word to insert, my eyes landed on two people that seemed to be arguing a great deal on a dark corner of the street. One of them…was Terra. "Stop!"

Terra's POV

"Hey babe," the smell of beer poured out of Barry's mouth as he shoved me against the brick wall. I stifled a scream of surprise and grunted out the pain instead. He wrapped a hand firmly around my neck and squeezed. "Here's that whiskey I promised." He waved the sack around. "Brought something else too,"

"Your liver? I bet it was hoping to have a rest tonight." I choked out. Barry snarled and lifted me forward just to throw me back into the wall. I screamed this time, my head hitting the bricks with such a force that blood began dripping down my neck almost instantly.

"You…" I coughed and took a deep breath.

"Me what?" he came close to my face and sneered.

"You…son of a BITCH!" at this point, in a blind rage, I reached up with all of my might and gripped his forehead, wrapping my fingers around his chin with my opposite hand. As I twisted harshly, his neck gave out a sickening crack as his jaw snapped out of place. He roared in outrage and tore himself away from me, I was able to free myself for a split second, just enough to give him another blow in the sternum. But he recovered quickly and socked me across my cheek, only hard enough to leave a bruise and possibly a nasty gash.

Barry reached down and pulled me up by my hair, but the startling honk of a horn and blinding headlights kept him from going any further. We both turned to look at the approaching black Hummer and who was inside. Before I could tell though, I was being thrown back to the ground and Barry was running into the shadows.

"Hey!" I slowly sat up as someone yelled to Barry from behind me. "Terra," the same voice frantically said my name. "Terra, sweetheart, we're going to get you to a hospital ok?" I looked up at Criss of who was now lifting me from the cold concrete.

I tried to look up at him, but my eyes squinted strangely. "Huh…what?" I shook my head. "No, don't take me to a hospital. I'm fine."

"But Terra you-"

"No. Don't take me…I'm ok really." I managed to sit up and lay my head against the set once he had sat me down in the car.

"Are you sure?" I nodded. "Well…ok…"

"She's got a concussion." Another man spoke. "She needs to stay awake."

"Did you hear that Terra?" Criss' voice slowly begand to fade away, the last thing I heard was my name. "Terra? Terra…"


	3. Places to Go

I woke up in a cold sweat, the covers sticking to my body and darkness swallowing me up. Barry's voice echoed loudly through my mind, it made my head pound and for a second I could have sworn he was in the room with me. Everything began closing in quickly, the walls and ceiling pushing in towards me, all of them held the distinguished lines of Barry's face. His petrifying laugh made my heart race and I screamed. I screamed so loudly and so shrill my own ear drums rang from it. I forced myself out of the bed and threw the door open to my room, only to find more nothingness.

My feet tripped over themselves and items on the floor until my achingly cold fingers found their way to the door handle of the suite. I once again tore through the door and ran down the hall to the elevator where, for the second time in two nights, I curled into a ball. But this time tears spilled onto my jeans and sweatshirt, I sobbed and sobbed until the elevator dinged and I looked up quickly. What I expected to see was either a dumbstruck person or the empty lobby. But to my utter amazement and relief, there stood Criss waiting for me. Already knowing I was there.

"Come here," he barely waited for the elevator doors to slide open before pushing inside and pulling me up, wrapping me in his arms. He held the back of my head, gently pushing my ear against his chest.

Once the doors had given up on us, they slid shut again and the elevator began moving. Criss reached over and pressed a button, causing the elevator itself to stop for us. The annoying music shut off and the lights dimmed to only a dull orangey color, his heart beat the music I was focused on at the moment.

We stayed silent for a few minutes until he spoke again. "You're freezing…" he whispered. I gazed up into his deep chocolate eyes with hurt and pleading.

"You left me…alone…in the dark…why?" my words came out hoarse and I barely got them out before he pulled me close again.

"I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to scare you." More silence. "You know Whiskey Girl…" he started. "This is the closest I have ever felt to a person for just meeting them."

I pulled away and gazed up at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"When we met I knew there was something wrong, but you hid it like you were scared of anybody but yourself knowing. I consider that not knowing you. But now that you're revealing your feelings to me I can safely say I've met the Terra Willis in person." He smiled charmingly down at me and I had no words to reply to this with.

"Criss?" I finally spoke.

"Hm?"

"Can we please go? I forgot to mention I'm absolutely terrified of elevators…" Criss chuckled and pressed the button to keep going. The rest of the trip was spent in annoying music and silence until we reached our destination. "Wait, Criss I'm on the twenty-ninth floor though." I stated when I realized we were on the thirtieth floor rather than mine.

"Yes, I know," we exited hand in hand and started down the hall. "We're going to my room. I'm not going to leave you alone again."

"But I don't want to be a burden! Besides you have much better company to keep than me…" I trailed off of my sentence as Criss spun me around to face him. Our faces were only inches away as he spoke.

"I wouldn't want any other company with me, than you, Terra." His breath whispered down my cheek and I refrained from shivering. "So please, stay with me. I will…protect you."

I didn't respond, just nodded. The way his eyes held emotion and care made tears fill mine. I had never had anybody care for me so much…not even Brandy and I thought she was the only person who could contain so much care. Criss smiled softly and gently wiped a tear from the edge of my eye, he began leaning in towards me and my cheeks warmed immensely as he came closer. His eyes were closed and for a moment I panicked, afraid he really would kiss me and all of the emotions I held would come spilling out. I was afraid…of getting hurt again…

CRISS'POV

My lips burned slightly as I got closer, but I could sense just by her touch she was scared. So instead I tilted my head up and softly pressed my lips against her forehead. I could nearly feel her body's tension release all at once. That's when it occurred to me that this girl was something more than meets the eye and I wanted her in my life for more than just awhile.

I looked deep into her chestnut red/brown colored eyes and brushed a piece of black and green striped hair behind her ear. We both smiled as I led her into the suit I stayed in here at the Luxor.

I watched her in amusement as she slowly made her way over to the large window that looked out over the city, its lights reflecting off of it. She stared in awe at the view, her delicate features in a pure astounded state. She was so beautiful…the way the lights caught her eyes and smile took my breath away and made my movements falter. Before now I thought she was cute…but now she was just…gorgeous.

"So, why are you here?" I asked.

"Oh, I really had nowhere else to go and I was hoping to get my start here. My cousin, Brandy, she works here and made a deal with the manager that I could stay here for free if I sang for free during dinners."

"So you sing?" I prodded while plopping down on the couch.

"No actually, I write. Like I said I'm trying to start here, maybe find a good publishing company." As she spoke about her dreams her voice faded into the distance like her mind was working right then and there on what she was going to do and how.

"Sweet! What do you write?" her headed whipped around at this question and her smile brightened like the incident only hours before had never happened.

Her sweet voice became more and more excited as she explained the magical places in the depths of her mind and how much time she spent there. _No wonder she's always got that distant look in her eyes. _I thought to myself as I smiled at her. She sprawled her hands out in the air and waved her arms around to emphasize the wonder that hid in these places she discovered in her heart. Terra was something special…and I had a feeling she knew that but was afraid of it.

"I wish…I could go there." I stated quietly as I stared up at Terra in amazement.

"But you can." She smiled and gently took my hand. "Do you trust me, Criss?"

"Only if you trust me…" I whispered leaning in closer hoping that she would as well.

"With all of my heart…" she whispered back. I closed my eyes, but she spoke again. "Picture your favorite place. Picture it and all of your favorite things around you. Now just fall back into that…and stay there for however long you feel." Before I knew it I was doing what she told me to, and I was falling into a place and a feeling I had never felt so strongly before.

TERRA'SPOV

He wanted to kiss me I could feel it, and I wanted to kiss him too. But there was that gut wrenching feeling inside that screamed at me because of my fear. It told me I was just going to get hurt again, no matter what. It didn't matter anyway…I had him now. I could feel his body and soul slipping into that place and I was more than happy to see a genuine, perfect smile stretch across his face.

"Can you feel it?" I asked as Criss slowly leaned back against the cushions. He nodded with that grin still plastered across his face. We sat there for a couple of minutes until he cracked his dark eyes open just a bit to look at me. I smiled at him and ended up squealing a bit when he unexpectedly reached forward and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me down to lay next to him.

"Terra," his voice was barely above a whisper. "I haven't felt this peaceful…well since before my father died." He nuzzled his nose into my hair.

I giggled lightly and closed my eyes as well, finally calmed down. "I'm so happy," I yawned. "That you're happy."

Criss heaved a heavy sigh of contentment and replied a few seconds later. "Whiskey Girl…"

"Yes, Magic Man?" I answered almost asleep.

"Stay with me,"

"Ok…"

"Promise?"

"I promise…" and then we fell into a sleep that shouldn't be disrupted.


	4. Moments and Minutes

Blinding rays of sun streamed through the curtains and into my eyes. I hissed and threw the blanket (that I didn't remember being there when we fell asleep) over my head. From the kitchen I heard a quiet chuckle along with the beep of a coffee maker, then the smell of hazelnut filled my nostrils and I sat up. "You hungry?" Criss asked.

"Not at the moment, but can I get some coffee?" I stood up and ventured into the kitchen where I sat on the counter next to him.

"Aaaabsolutely," in several quick motions he took out two coffee mugs for the both of us and tossed them about. "Hey, watch this." He smirked as I watched intently on what he was doing. Criss kept his hand above one cup and concentrated with everything he had. His hand and fingers contracted and soon I could see his bones straining as well.

I gasped as the mug lifted from the counter and floated, suspended in midair. Criss smiled, but kept his attention on the cup while at the same time using his other hand to pick up the coffee pot and pour the dark liquid into it. My jaw dropped as I watched and grinned at him. "Criss, that's incredible. I think you're something a bit more than just an 'illusionist'."

"Oh really? What makes you think that?" he handed me the mug.

I took it and went to the fridge to get some creamer. "I have a different view of the world is all." I shrugged. "One day, you'll see too." I winked. He shook his head and laughed then approached me, leaning his stomach against my knees. His abs were rock hard, and how close he was made me shiver a bit.

"Do you recall…the promise you made me last night?" he tilted his head.

"Well…kind of I guess. What was said again?" I laughed lightly.

He laughed as well. "You promised me…that you would stay with me. And after that amazing mind thing you put me through last night…I don't think I could let you leave again…even if I wanted to."

"Um…ok…"

"Terra, I want to be able to protect you and be here when you need me. I can't do that when-"

"I'm a floor below you ya'goof!" I laughed again and held his cheeks, smashing them together so make him have fishy lips. "I'll be fine!"

"Terraaaa," he grabbed my hands. "You promised you wouldn't leave me." He said in a hushed tone like he was telling me a secret.

"And I won't be leaving you silly little Magic Man. I'm here for a while, just a floor away, ok?" he shook his head, obviously not pleased with my answer.

"No. I want you here with me." The look he gave me was one of a child pouting when they didn't get their way.

"Criss, I'm not going to stay here with you. I'm sorry but I don't think that's appropriate."

At this point Criss was on the verge of an anger I wasn't meaning to tap into. "I don't want my words twisted around, Terra."

"I'm not twisting your words around!" I jumped from the counter and stood in front of him. He only moved though, enough to let me get down. Then he moved back in, pressing himself against me lightly, looking down into my eyes and I began to trip over my words. "I…I just d-don't think we should be living in the same room together when we hardly know each other."

"But," he leaned down further. "I feel like I've known you…forever."

CRISS'POV

I couldn't contain myself any longer. We were so close, yet I needed to be closer. I quickly trapped Terra in my arms and pressed my lips against hers. For a moment I was lost in her taste, just drinking her in. She didn't struggle, even began kissing me back, relaxing against my chest. Then she realized what she was doing.

TERRA'SPOV

I couldn't help it, he was so welcoming and I knew I had feelings for him. I gave in and lost myself for a few moments, relishing the feel of his warmth. Then it hit me, what was I doing? What was I…?

I yanked myself back away from him and threw my hand over my mouth. Tears filled my eyes to the brim as I stared into his worried gaze and I shook my head. "I…I have to go." With no further comments I pushed him away and ran out of the kitchen and to the door. I heard him following close at my heals.

"Terra please, I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that." He said, but I ignored him and rushed from the room and down the hall. "Terra!" he called. I ran to the stairs door and escaped into the narrow hall with two rows of stairs. They took me only seconds to get down before I emerged onto my floor and made it to my room. My room key was still in my pocket from the other night so I slipped inside and hastily locked the door behind me.

I stayed in my room for days after that. I don't exactly know why…maybe because I was angry? Or maybe because I didn't _know _why I had even run out in the first place, to be perfectly honest I hadn't a clue how to feel or why. Brandy had called many times and even tried to come by as did Criss, but I left both of them banging the door at my doorstep. I had only talked to Brandy over the room phone and according to her Criss was having a hard time concentrating on his show.

"Geez, the way we're speaking you think we'd broken up." I murmured while applying some light mascara.

"Oh my gosh…" I could almost hear Brandy gaping through the phone.

"What? Brandy, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Terra, turn on your TV now!" I did as what was told and the first thing I saw was Barry's face plastered on the news.

"This man is armed and dangerous. If you have any information please contact the emergency services immediately." Was the last thing I caught of the segment. I covered my mouth with my hand and stared at the TV in stunned silence even after it had cut to commercial. The phone was on the floor with Brandy on the other end saying my name. I slowly picked it back up and barely made out words.

"I'll…I'll talk to you later…" I then hung up. Not even five minutes after the news cast, bangs on the door reverberated through the room. I gasped and cowered in the corner of the room, not caring even if it was Criss. After a few minutes the knocks stopped and it grew darker until the only thing that lit up the room was the TV. I shut my eyes tightly and rocked back in forth silently, not wanting to give into the obvious. But it couldn't be avoided. "Criss?" I squeaked into the phone.

"Terra?"

"I'm sorry…" he didn't reply. "I'm scared, Criss…please…I'm-"

"I'm coming," with that the line went dead and a minute later there were knocks at the door.


	5. Rough

I didn't expect who I saw waiting for me at the door, luckily it wasn't Barry though; it was Costa, Criss' brother. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Criss is on his way, but I saw Barry in the lobby. Come on," Costa pulled me from the room and we started down the hall. "I wanted to make sure someone got here before he did."

My face grew cold and I could feel all of the color drain from my cheeks. "Has anybody called the police?"

"I think your cousin has," I stopped in my tracks and Costa turned and looked at me. "Come on, what are you waiting for?"

"I…I have to go protect Brandy!" I turned on my heel and ran for the elevator. It opened almost immediately; Costa wasn't able to follow me into it.

"What do you think you're doing?" Criss' voice made me jump and scream.

"I have to save Brandy! God only knows he'll go after her first." We went through a short argument until the doors opened and we ran out. The lobby was still crowded with bustling people, rushing to get wherever they were going. But Criss and I were more concerned about where Brandy was and how to help her. Well…I was, Criss was just in my way trying to get me out of there.

"Come on, I'll find Brandy. You stay-" Criss couldn't finish his sentence, for my name was being screamed across the room. I turned around to see a more than drunken Barry storming my way.

"Listen you little bitch," he grabbed a handful of hair. "You're coming back to Texas with me, and you're staying there."

"Let go of her." We all looked up to see Criss lounging against the wall at the end of the hall like everything was normal. "She's staying with us."

"I know you think you're all Mr. Cool 'cause you're all famous and crap…but news flash you're not." Barry wobbled towards Criss. "You can't have my girl. She's mine."

"Really? Because I think she's herself. You don't own her, I don't own her…no one owns her." Criss replied.

"NO!" Barry's voice rose to a max height of vocal destruction. I jumped as he screamed more. "SHE. IS. MINE." A stare down then began. Both Criss and Barry glowered at each other from ten feet away. Their harsh gazes made even me want to close my eyes and cower away, but I already knew Criss had a plan. Criss' mouth pulled into a smug smirk. "You…you asshole." With that, Barry roared in outrage and charged towards Criss, but wasn't able to get to him on time.

As Barry made an impact with the wall, Criss disappeared. He then reappeared on the other side of the hall laughing, like what he had just done should have been painfully obvious to see coming. In a way…it kind of was. I couldn't hold back my snicker, and that made Barry turn around to face me. I froze in place and held my breath.

"Don't even think about it." I jumped and Criss faded into my vision.

"Criss how are you…" I began, but was cut off by the police barging through the doors guns drawn.

"You could have gotten killed."

"He would have gone after Brandy if I hadn't gone back!"

"You should have told one of us we would have taken care of it! You don't run after your crazy, drunken ex-boyfriend alone, do you hear me?"

"No I guess I don't." Criss and I glared at each other for a few seconds, closer than comfortable for me. But somehow I wasn't complaining, nor did I want to. He reached out and gently brushed my cheek with his thumb.

"You…want me to kiss you." He smirked a little.

I laughed a little. "Just how do you know that?"

He once again brushed my cheek. "I can feel it…"

"Well then, I guess you should go with your gut feeling…"

We leaned into each other and carefully pressed our lips together. The heat form our bodies merged together creating an almost impenetrable force field around us both. I sighed in relaxation as Criss carefully lay me back on the couch. We carried on for several minutes until he pulled away and smiled at me. "I think it's time for bed, we've had a long day."

"No kidding," I laughed. We walked back to his bedroom and lay down in the bed cuddling close to each other in a protective shield.

"Are you sure you're alright after that? A lot of other girl's would be traumatized by that long term incident." Criss' voice was only a slight muffle to me as sleep consumed me, but I understood enough to answer the best way I could.

"Shit's rough."


End file.
